Forty-eight kiwifruit cultivars and selections, representing more than 90% of total world kiwifruit production, were investigated using nine SSR markers to establish genetic identities, and evaluate genetic diversity and relatedness. These nine SSRs were polymorphic and a total of 213 alleles were detected, resulting in a mean number of 23.7 alleles per locus, ranging from nine to 38 alleles. One hundred and thirty-three alleles were found to be common to both A. chinensis and A. deliciosa, while 33 and 36 were specific to A. chinensis and A. deliciosa, respectively. In addition, 34 alleles were specific to one single genotype and provided a set of valuable alleles for cultivar identification. A single SSR locus UDK 96-414 could differentiate all 48 genotypes except two presumable clones. Mean number of alleles per locus (A), percentage of polymorphic loci (P), and direct count heterozygosity (Ho) assessed for each genotype over all loci revealed considerable differences among these 48 genotypes. On average, A = 2.6, P = 89.4% and Ho = 0.546 were found in A. chinensis cultivars, while A = 3.5, P = 97.0% and Ho = 0.671 in A. deliciosa cultivars. Consensus fingerprint profiling using SSR markers is a useful and reliable method for establishing genetic identities of kiwifruit cultivars and selections. It also improves evaluation effectiveness of genetic diversity and relatedness compared to RAPD markers.
Genetic Diversity in Spanish and Foreign Almond Germplasm Assessed by Molecular Characterization with Simple Sequence Repeats